Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Invests $9.92 Million in Virtu Financial, Inc. $VIRT

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Virtu Financial, Inc. for approximately $9.92 million, purchasing 260,185 shares during the first quarter.
• Numerous institutional investors have increased their holdings in Virtu Financial, resulting in a total of 45.78% of the company's stock being owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Virtu Financial recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24, representing an annualized yield of 2.3%, with a payout ratio of 21.82%.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 260,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,918,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.17% of Virtu Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VIRT. Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 8,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 53,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,574 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,448,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,696,000 after acquiring an additional 471,526 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 52,830 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 15,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of Virtu Financial by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 166,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,954,000 after acquiring an additional 83,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VIRT shares. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Virtu Financial in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Virtu Financial from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Bank of America downgraded Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Virtu Financial from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Virtu Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.75.

Virtu Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ VIRT traded down $1.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.82. 1,806,122 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 950,748. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.38. Virtu Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.82 and a 1 year high of $45.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Virtu Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Virtu Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Virtu Financial news, COO Brett Fairclough sold 90,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.40, for a total transaction of $3,845,722.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 47.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Virtu Financial Profile

Virtu Financial, Inc operates as a financial services company in the United States, Asia Pacific, Canada, EMEA, Ireland, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Market Making and Execution Services. Its product includes offerings in execution, liquidity sourcing, analytics and broker-neutral, capital markets, and multi-dealer platforms in workflow technology.